The Beginning
by AredhelAnwamane
Summary: Hermione is back at Hogwarts, trying desperately to hide her affections for a certain teacher. Warning: If the pairing of Hermione and Snape disturbs you, do not read.


I own none of the characters, I'm just playing around with them.

It began as a normal day, until the object of her affections  
came into view.

Now, Hermione had never expected this to be the way her life  
would be lived, but then again, she never expected to fall in  
love with one of her professors. Granted, he was no longer  
her professor- she had graduated a couple year before hand-  
but it still felt wrong.

It was Severus Snape.

"It has always been Snape" Hermione found herself  
confessing to Harry, "Always, ever since the beginning of our  
first year. I can't help it, I've tried to ignore it, but I can't get  
him out of my head."

"Snape...?"Harry asked in a confused voice, "Severus  
Snape?" He was sure by now that they were talking about a  
different Snape; surely there could be more than one person  
in the wizarding world with that name.

"Yes, Harry. Severus Snape. The 'greasy git' that taught us  
Potions for the past seven years. You can't possibly have forgotten  
him?" The sarcasm was impossible to miss, even for Harry.

"But... Why? How?" He was at a loss for words, he just  
couldn't believe that this could happen. "It just makes no  
sense."

"I know, I don't understand it either, but it is what it is. I've  
gotten used to it, why can't you?" Hermione looked hopefully  
at her friend.

"Does he know?" Harry asked, dreading the response.

"No. I've never had the guts to tell him."

Relief soared through her friend's body, but then he began to  
think about Hermione's happiness.

"Tell him." Harry reluctantly told her, "He should know. Who  
knows, it just might work out."

_He's taking this surprisingly well_, Hermione thought to herself, _  
I'm quite impressed about how grown up he  
has become._

"I will tell him!" Hermione exclaimed "Just not yet," she  
added quietly, more to herself than anyone else.

A month had passed since Hermione told Harry about he  
infatuation with Severus Snape, and yet she still hadn't told  
the object of her affections.

The days had grown much longer as the summer months  
approached, and Hermione was still debating whether or not  
the love was true, or just a silly schoolgirl crush. True, it had  
been two years since she had last had a class with him, but she  
was still at the castle, having acquired a position as an  
assistant to Professor McGonagall. With this position came  
the task of trying to hide her emotions from Severus.

"Oh, how I wish I could just tell him!" Hermione cried out  
hopelessly, "But he would never accept me, I'm just some  
stupid little girl that he used to teach."

Unknown to her, Severus was fighting the exact same battle  
with himself.

Down in the dungeons, away from the prying eyes of the  
students and staff, Professor Severus Snape was trying to  
reason with himself over a crush gone wild.

"I don't love her!" he yelled at himself. "I can't love her!  
She's just a girl! That's all! A young, inexperienced, annoying,  
know-it-all, breathtakingly beautiful, young lady, whom I love  
with all my heart." Snape realized the full extent of his love,  
the moment these words left his lips. "Damnit! Now I have to  
go tell her, before I explode from hiding it! I hate it when I'm wrong!"  
Severus still didn't fully understand how he could feel like  
this, but he let it slide.

And off he went, off to find the love of his life, and hope he  
wasn't horribly rejected in front of everyone.

Hermione sat alone at the staff table, lunch having just  
started, and looked around for him. Out of nowhere, it  
seemed, was Severus, striding towards her, looking oddly  
nervous considering it was just lunch like every other day.

How wrong she was.

Severus walked towards her, and sat down right beside her.

In an instant, her heart started pumping madly, her pulse  
going so fast she was sure that she was vibrating from it. But  
these were regular feelings, they happened whenever she got  
within ten feet of him. _Nothing out of the ordinary,_ she said  
to herself. _It's only lunch._

And then Severus began to talk.

"Miss Granger…"

"Please, call me Hermione, you know how I hate being called  
Miss Granger by colleagues."

"Fine… Hermione, I have something I have to tell you. But I'm  
afraid of how you will respond."

"Severus…" His heart pounded harder at her calling him  
Severus…

"You know you can tell me anything you want. I won't make  
fun of you. I respect you."

_Oh good,_ he thought, _she respects me. That's not a good  
sign, maybe I should just leave it…_ But then it hit him, that  
he couldn't just say nothing. Those innocent, gorgeous brown  
eyes of his love couldn't be ignored. Slowly, he began to talk  
again.

"Miss…Hermione. This is so hard for me to say, it would be  
hard for me to say to anyone, but to say it to you is the  
hardest." _This isn't so bad,_ he thought to himself. _I can do this._

"What is it, Severus?" Hermione suddenly looked nervous.  
_What have I done now? He's going to yell at me or  
something, or say that he hates me, I can't take it!_

"Well, it's just that… Well… Okay… This is the thing…"

Hermione had never seen him look so nervous. He was the  
most feared professor that had ever taught at Hogwarts, and  
now he's stuttering over a simple conversation. _This is  
strange,_ she deduced. _Something's seriously wrong._

"Fine, I'll just say it then. Hermione, I love you." Severus was  
deeply disturbed at having been so open about his feelings,  
as it was so unlike him to say anything about his emotions to  
anyone. He had to protect his horrible, mean potions master  
reputation.

The words hung like the hundreds of candles in the still air.

"You… what?"

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Could she have possibly  
heard wrong? Or did the love of her life really say that he  
loved her?

"Don't you listen! I said… I love you! I have since you were  
in sixth year. I saw the way you had grown up, from a child,  
into a beautiful, intelligent, woman, and I fell in love." The  
Potions Master was shocked that he spilled this much to  
Hermione. _I'm going insane,_ he deduced._ I'm never this nice._

"Wow… That's unexpected."

"Forget I said it! I shouldn't have said anything!" He made to  
stand up, but Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him back  
down. Snape was terrified that she was about to laugh at him…  
wait, he was terrified of that? Maybe just terrified that she  
would tell the whole school about his feelings that were  
incidentally not hate or loathing, or tell him to get lost, but the  
last thing he expected was the kiss she then gave him.

"I love you too, Severus." Her quiet voice mixed with her soft  
lips on his made his heart pound wildly, and he could tell that  
there was a red flush creeping it's way onto his pale face.

"You're kidding...For... for how long...?" He asked tentatively.  
This certainly was becoming more and more interesting.  
_She's noticed that I'm not all harsh looks and meanness. That  
better not get out!_ he thought desperately. _I'm going to wake  
up at any moment!_ He thought to himself, _This can't be true.  
It's all a dream. How can I have these feelings?_ Severus was  
still pondering how this happened._ I'm supposed to be the  
most feared teacher in Hogwarts history! What's happening to  
me? Am I going soft!_

"Well... Truthfully... Ever since I first saw you. I couldn't help  
myself, and as I learned more from you, and got to know you  
a little better... well... I guess it just hit me. I've been  
spending so much more time with you lately... You know...  
Now that I work here and everything... I mean, I wasn't sure  
at first... Thought it was just a crush..."

_Oh God! I'm rambling! Shut up, Hermione! Get a grip on  
yourself!_ Hermione thought to herself, _I must stay calm! _She  
waited for his response. But after a few minutes, in which he  
remained incredibly silent, (Hermione thought he had stopped  
breathing, or that he was catatonic, she didn't know that he  
was still trying to figure out when he became a softy. He  
honestly couldn't think of how it could have happened) she  
continued.

"But now I know for sure. I love you. " She spoke the words  
quietly, as if to keep her feelings hidden from everyone else  
but him.

"It's always been you."


End file.
